


Until I Know (It's True Love That He Thinks Of)

by markijack



Series: 25 Days of Christmas [6]
Category: Video Blogging RPF, jacksepticeye
Genre: (Recovering) Alcoholic Character, Chase is thriving bc my fic my rules, Christmas, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Mistletoe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 02:10:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16904076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/markijack/pseuds/markijack
Summary: Henrik asks Chase out (several times, in fact), but Chase won't give him a straight answer.





	Until I Know (It's True Love That He Thinks Of)

“Thanks for picking me up,” Chase said.

“It is no problem at all. Anything for you,” Henrik said with a wink, and Chase laughed but didn’t answer. “How was your meeting?”

“It was fine. Same as usual.”

“Are you hungry?”

“A little. I’ll just heat up some of whatever you guys had.”

“Or we could find somewhere to eat while we are out. What do you feel like? Pizza? Chinese? It is my treat.”

Chase didn’t answer right away, but after thinking it over he said, “Maybe some other time? I’m kind of tired; I don’t really feel like going out.”

“Alright.”

For the rest of the way home, Henrik told him about the near food-fight that had broken out over dinner. “You know how those two can get! Marvin, he just likes to push Anti’s buttons, and Anti falls for it every time. I swear, I thought I was going to have to send them to their rooms like children.”

“They are children!” Chase laughed. “That’s why you and I are the only ones that can handle them.”

“We are a very good team.”

Chase looked at him and grinned. “Yeah, I guess we are.”

Henrik suddenly found it a little hard to find words to say, but fortunately for him, they were home. The went inside to find everyone else had already gone to bed. “Go sit down. I will heat up some food for you.”

“Thank you. That’s really nice of you, Henrik.”

“I know that the meetings are not your favorite things.”

“No. They do help, though.”

They helped a lot. Chase had joined the program a few months ago and been totally sober since, and his mental health had greatly improved for it. He had his bad days, of course, but the difference was dramatic - he was practically a different person. Henrik had forgotten, for a while, how beautiful Chase was when his smiles reached his eyes and when the natural warmth of his personality wasn’t completely drowned in alcohol and self-hatred.

Chase took a bite. “You cooked tonight?”

“You can tell?”

“Yeah, I can tell ‘cause it’s burnt,” he teased.

“Oh, I see how it is. You turn me down and then you are ungrateful for the food that I make for you!” Henrik was teasing, too, but Chase looked a little embarrassed.

“I didn’t ‘turn you down.’ I just… I’m tired, I don’t know!”

“Chase, come on. Are we really going to play these games?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, these games we have been playing for the last two weeks, where you pretend that you do not understand that I am asking you out. If you do not have that kind of interest in me, I understand it. But I would prefer a yes or a no. As it is now, I am… confused.”

Chase looked down at his plate, stirring his food around instead of eating it. “I didn’t mean to play games with your head. I’m sorry.”

“It is alright. You are a very kind person. I know it does not come easily to you, to reject people.”

“I wasn’t trying to reject you either! I like you a lot, Henrik! It’s not that I don’t want to go out with you.”

“You are confusing me once again.”

“Look… I just got my life together, right? And I haven’t dated anyone since the divorce, and my kids - I don’t know if they’re ready to have someone new in their lives. And Stacy and I have been talking about maybe me getting to see them every weekend, instead of every other, so I wouldn’t have as much time for like, a relationship or whatever.”

“I understand that your children are the most important thing to you. I have some of the same concerns about my own. But we would be getting a meal, Chase. Not wedding rings. We could deal with these issues in due time.”

“But if it doesn’t work out, what happens to us? You said yourself: the others need us to be a team.”

“You are assuming that I will hurt you. I have no intention of doing so.”

“Maybe if I was twenty, or if I didn’t have kids, or if we were strangers, I could take that risk. But I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Henrik laughed softly. “Your reasons are good ones. But it is a little funny to me that Chase Brody is lecturing me about acting my age and making responsible decisions.”

Chase wasn’t laughing. “Bad decisions took me to some pretty dark places. I don’t want to make those kinds of mistakes again.”

“And letting yourself fall in love is a mistake?”

“If the relationship falls apart and I end up back where I was a couple months ago? Then yes.”

Henrik sat in silence for a minute, thinking. “You have had a long night, Chase. I do not wish to make you feel like we are arguing, or that I am dismissing what you are saying to me now. But if I may say one more thing before I am done overstepping boundaries, I think that you are forgetting how feelings work. The heart is not something you can simply turn off, as many of my patients would tell you if they were alive to do so. I will stop pestering you for tonight, and I will always be your friend. But my feelings for you will not go away, and perhaps this is wishful thinking on my part, but if you truly have feelings for me, I doubt they will go away either.”

“I… don’t know what to say to that.”

“That is alright. It is late. Another day, we will discuss it again. For now, goodnight.”

******

‘Another day’ didn’t come for three months. From late September until Christmastime, they pretended that night had never happened. They went to work. They saw their kids. They kept the other egos from killing each other. Chase kept going to meetings, but now they ate dinner early on those nights so everyone could eat together. Occasionally, they had a ‘moment.’ Henrik would give a compliment that had a little more than friendly sentiment behind it, or Chase would rest his head on Henrik’s shoulder without thinking if they were sitting next to each other. No one else seemed to notice there was something going on between them; Anti would have enjoyed calling them out on it if he did, and the others probably would have at least asked them about it. But Chase and Henrik were always aware of it.

So it was a little awkward when they were all in the living room on Christmas Eve and Jackie pointed to the two of them and said “Mistletoe! You guys have to kiss!”

They looked up. “Why did you guys hang mistletoe in the first place?”

“It’s festive and it’s funny. Stop being pussies.” Marvin said.

Henrik put an arm around Chase’s shoulders, figuring the best way to keep the situation under control was to act normal. “Just to shut them up, Chase,” he said, then leaned down and gave his friend a peck on the lips. It lasted a single second at the absolute most. He kept his eyes on Chase as he pulled away, hoping he wasn’t mad.

Chase didn’t look angry. He was staring at Henrik, looking shocked and… something else. Suddenly, he grabbed onto Henrik and pulled him back into a kiss, but this one was quite different. It was still soft, but it was long and passionate and sincere. Henrik got so lost in it for a minute that he forgot where they were. But Chase wasn’t stopping, and everyone was still watching them, so he gently pulled away again.

Chase took a shaky breath and opened his eyes. Everyone else in the room was staring at them. Marvin had literally frozen, holding the cookie he’d been about to take a bite of. Even Anti was entirely lost for words, his eyes wide. “Excuse me,” Chase whispered, then turned and ran towards his room.

The sound of his door slamming broke the spell in the living room. “What the fuck was that?” Anti asked.

Henrik ignored him. “I’m gonna go check on him.”

There was no answer when he knocked, so he slowly pushed the door open. Chase was sitting on his bed with his face in his hands.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I did that.”

“Why are you sorry?

“That was humiliating.”

“No, it was just unexpected. They will get over it and leave us alone, except Anti, but Anti is a bitch.”

Chase laughed a little. “Yeah. I guess you’re right. And you were right about what you said a few months ago, too. I still have feelings for you.”

“I am always right. That is why I am now saying that you will finally let me take you out to dinner.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess I can’t really run from it anymore. But maybe on like a Wednesday? Weekends are still for my kids.”

“Wednesday is perfect. I have not forgotten what you said to me. I cannot promise that we will never break up, or that your children will like me, or that you will never take another drink. But I promise that I will do my best to never hurt you, and to be there for you no matter what the circumstances. Okay?”

He smiled. “Okay.”

“Then Wednesday. It’s a date.”

“I guess we should probably go back out there, huh?”

“If you are ready.”

To Chase’s surprise, before anyone had a chance to say anything, Jackie stepped forward and hugged him. “I’m sorry, Chase,” he said, sounding genuinely upset. “I didn’t mean to mess with you or anything.”

“It’s not your fault, man. You didn’t know.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Thanks, Jackie.”

“Are we allowed to ask what’s going on between you two?” Marvin asked.

“You’re allowed to ask whatever you want, but there’s not much to tell you.”

“Well, was that the first time you kissed each other?”

“Yes.”

“Are you gonna do it again?”

Chase laughed. “Probably, dude.”

“Awesome.”

“Can I ask something?” said Anti.

“Of course.”

“If you have sex, who’s room would you do it in? ‘Cause the wall between Schneeplestein’s room and mine is really thin.”

“No, I changed my mind, you’re not allowed to ask questions. Anyone else?”

“I’m happy for you,” JJ signed.

“Thank you, JJ. Now if you’re all done being nosey, it’s still Christmas Eve. You guys want hot chocolate or what?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This was loosely based on Ariana Grande's "Santa Tell Me" as part of my 25 Days of Ego Fics based on Christmas songs. I'm a little behind, but if you want to see what songs are coming up, here's a link to a playlist with them all in order: https://spoti.fi/2DWmfCz and my Tumblr is henrik-von-schneeplestein if you just want to chat!


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